Libya’s Al-Tahara Oil Field Online & Producing

The Al-Tahara oil field located in Libya’s NC4 concession is now online and currently producing 2,500 barrels per day (bpd) and is expected to reach 40,000 bpd once fully producing to potential. The area is operated by AGOCO. The National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman, Mustafa Sanalla, officially opened the taps during a ceremony. In a speech on this occasion, Sanalla thanked all the employees of AGOCO and the SGS company which implemented the project and its contractors as well as the protection force that secured the implementation of the project that has been long delayed due to budget deficits. Sanalla further explained that this project is very ambitious, and that the NOC gave the permission to the company in October 2020 to use the fast track of development to get to this point in the absence of sufficient budgets for full development.

Earlier, the media office of Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) reported that “the oil ports along the Libyan coast are experiencing a situation of bad weather, which has made it impossible to link the moored oil vessels.” NOC’s media office added that there are not “enough tanks to accommodate two days of production at the Zawiya oil port and we are afraid that production will decline if bad weather continues for more than three days.” NOC has previously demanded the decision-making departments in the country to provide funding for the repair and maintenance of oil sector infrastructure, that have been damaged or destroyed by war. To date, NOC has not obtained the necessary financial allocations, which has led to irregular oil production and sometimes the shut-in of fields due to leaks and other issues, which has affected the country’s hard currency earnings.